With the release of Echo Desktop and the Android version of Livescribe+ over this past year, we updated our post explaining how a Livescribe PDF audio pencast can be created and played back on computers and mobile devices.

UPDATE: With the US holiday week in mind, we’ve extended the deadline until July 7 for customers to download any pencasts from the Echo Community.

As announced last year, Livescribe is closing the Echo Community, the service that was designed as a way to share your pencasts. The decision was made in conjunction with the introduction of Echo Desktop and the more flexible Livescribe PDF pencast format.

On Wednesday July 1, 2015 we will turn off the Echo Community website. After this date, customers will no longer be able to view, download or convert pencasts on the Echo Community.

Since many teachers have used the Echo Livescribe Community to share their lectures and notes with their students as pencasts, we‘re making this change at the end of the school year. Teachers can use their school’s Learning Management System to store and distribute the new Livescribe PDF pencasts along with other digital materials.

Livescribe PDF files can be played back on more devices, including major web browsers, Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. Customers can use any cloud-based file service such as Evernote, Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, or similar services to store their Livescribe PDF pencasts going forward. Customers can continue to keep their notes stored locally on their computers or share them via email as well.

We thank you for your continued support – it’s been pretty amazing how many people have found pencasts to be such a powerful way to share information between teachers and students, and Livescribe PDF files are a big step in making pencasts more valuable in a mobile world. For an example of how one violin teacher is using Livescribe PDF files with her students, please see our blog post on Horman Violin Studio.

Livescribe+ for Android Brings the Best of Handwritten Notes and Digital Organization to Both iOS and Android Devices

Oakland, Calif. – May 12, 2015 – Livescribe Inc. (www.livescribe.com), the leading manufacturer of smartpens, launched the Android version of the Livescribe+ app globally today, opening up the award-winning Livescribe 3 smartpen to millions of Android smartphones and tablets.

Android users can start digitizing, searching and sharing their handwritten notes by picking up a Livescribe 3 smartpen and downloading the Livescribe+ app, free on the Google Play store. Initially launched for iOS, Livescribe+ for Android has been optimized for Android by incorporating Google’s Material Design guidelines to introduce a unique Android approach to the app’s core functions and user experience.

“Android support is a huge milestone for the Livescribe 3 smartpen,” said Gilles Bouchard, CEO of Livescribe. “The Livescribe 3 has proven that handwriting with real ink on real paper is even more useful when paired with the mobile devices we use every day. Studies show that writing things down helps people understand and remember the discussion better, and a digital copy of your notes is even more important when you’re on the go.”

One Livescribe 3 smartpen can sync with up to four iOS and Android devices, so people can access the same notes whenever they need them, on their iPad as well as their Android smartphone, or any other combination of iOS and Android mobile devices. Livescribe+ and the Livescribe 3 smartpen are compatible with devices running Android OS v4.4.2 (KitKat) or newer, with support for Bluetooth® Smart (aka Bluetooth 4.0 low energy). The Livescribe 3 smartpen uses Bluetooth Smart to easily connect to multiple devices and deliver up to 14 hours of continuous writing on one charge.